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Okay, I am so invested in finding out more about Prairie Johnson especially after we learned that she died in a bus accident as a young child and came back from the dead. But, are these flashbacks a reality or is she delusional as her parents suspect? Netflix has done it again with another original series, “The OA“

New Colossus

When Prairie calls another session with her new friends, one of the participants is afraid that his scholarship might suffer if he’s caught in a known drug house. French is determined to get a better life for his little brothers and himself. Everyone depends on French, including his drug addicted mother who plays the guilt game with the skill of a surgeon. Luckily for Prairie, Buck is able to convince French (Brandon Perea) to show up. In episode 02 we learn that Prairie is sent to America to live at a private school for the blind. No one in Russia knows that she survived. Her father, Roman Azarov, keeps in touch with his child even though he is on the run from the Russian mafia that caused the fatal bus crash that killed all the children.

The love between father and child is strong and Prairie/Nina longs for the day she’ll be reunited with her dad. When he does call, the child serenades her father with her violin, which she plays amazingly well. When the maternal aunt is informed that Roman is dead; most likely killed by the mafia, she takes Prairie to her home. The maternal aunt is quite the shady character and runs an illegal adoption agency.

When Abel and Nancy show up to buy a baby boy, Nancy sees Prairie and it’s love at first sight. Although I was happy that Prairie found good people to raise her, we never find out what happened to that poor baby. Did you know that most of the times, illegal adoptions are linked to human trafficking? Some of these babies are given up by their parents for quick cash, or for the next drug induced high. Some babies are stolen.

The joy of parenthood doesn’t last long for poor Nancy and Abel. They weren’t prepared for the nightmares and visions and they certainly weren’t prepared for Prairie’s sleepwalking episodes. Maybe it was that sharp butcher knife that Prairie kept stealing that had her parents resort to medicating her with mind numbing drugs.

New York

Prairie never believed that her father was dead and as soon as she reaches legal age, she runs off to New York to visit the Statue of Liberty. Dad is a no show, but Prairie decides to play the violin at the train station with the hopes that her dad will hear his favorite song and find her. One of the most touching scenes of Prairie’s visit at the Statue of Liberty is when a park ranger reads her the words on the plaque. New Colossus is the poem by Emma Lazarus and although it was written in 1883, it would do us well to memorize the words, especially with all this hate now being directed at immigrants.

Conclusion

Prairie’s song attracted a predator. Dr. Happ (Jason Isaacs) is interested in what happens when a soul leaves a body and the only people he can ask are people like Prairie who have had near-death experiences. He invites her to his lab, and because he is so charming, Prairie goes with him.

Prairie may have thought Dr. Happ a learned physician on a quest to solve the unknown, but what she discovers about this man is that he has a prison in his basement. Prairie is not alone, there are others and they have been there for a long time. One of the prisoners is Homer (Emory Cohen).

What are Dr. Happ’s true intentions? Why are his prisoners all survivors of a near-death experience? Meet me here on Friday for episode 03